Speaking at a meeting in Makhachkala, the capital of Daghestan, Putin said, "In the context of the fight against organized crime and terrorism the situation in the region remains complicated and we cannot say that we have done everything possible to feel safe."
He said that the state border in southern Russia was still open and should be properly protected.
"In the long-term it will be necessary for us to do this, given our international obligations, including our cooperation with our European partners on the issue of creating "four common spaces" one of which is to be an internal security space," Putin said.
He said that Russia had to ensure that the state border checkpoints were modern and convenient for citizens and also secure. Russia also had to complete the deployment of mountain brigades.
Putin added that Russia had certain obligations within the framework of the international antiterrorist coalition, one of which was to ensure that the southern Russian border was secure.
The President said that an enormous amount of work had been carried out recently in the North Caucasus and southern Russia.
However, unemployment and many other social and economic problems still remained in the region.
